Woman who lived a simple life donates her $14 million estate to 15 different charities

March 5th, 2020

By Cedric Jackson

Contributor at Spotlight

For most people, having millions of dollars in the bank would be a blessing. But for individuals without a lot of money, they can only dream of all the things they could and would do. You know, buy a new house, a new car, take trips around the world, and of course, give to loved ones. Interestingly, some millionaires prefer to live a simple life.

There are plenty of wealthy individuals who don’t lead a lavish lifestyle…by choice. Some drive older cars, live in modest homes, and instead of spending money on themselves, they prefer to help out others through charitable donations.

Those are the people who have money but like to give instead of receive. That’s what happened with a woman from New South Wales, Australia. Without a husband or kids and only a handful of genuinely close friends, she came up with a plan for her $14 million estate.

She lived a private life

Sheila Woodcock was a rather private person. She had several hobbies, including acting, horticulture, travel, animals, and chocolate. The people who knew her best were aware she wasn’t poor but they had no idea just how rich she was. They had noticed that she received a lot of mail from various charitable organizations but didn’t think much of it.

Even her cousin had no idea as to the extent of her wealth

Sheila was particularly close to one cousin by the name of Kent Woodcock. Like her few friends, he knew she had money in the bank but was clueless as to how much. In May of 2018 when Sheila passed away, it became Kent’s responsibility to carry out her wishes, carefully documented in her last will and testament.

That’s when he discovered the truth

It was at that time when Kent found out that Sheila was worth a whopping $14 million. He also learned she wanted to give her entire fortune to 15 different charities throughout Australia. So now, he had to notify each of those about the money she’d left for them.

A gathering at a helicopter facility

Kent had to figure out a way to pass along the news. So, he invited representatives from each of the listed charities to meet at the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service facility. After making his announcement, let’s just say everyone was beyond shocked. Like others, they knew she donated money for years but had no idea of her net worth.

Keeping it a secret

Remember when we said Sheila preferred to live a private life? That included keeping her will a secret from everyone. To help fund high-tech training material used to rescue people, she left the helicopter service a whopping $1.375 million. The representative for that firm said they were humbled.

Her generosity continued

Sheila left the same amount of money to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. She mentioned she wanted them to buy a new engine for their plane along with other critical pieces of equipment that would help save lives. Another $1.375 million went to the RSPCA to move their current veterinary hospital to a larger and better building. That was on top of the $200,000 she’d already given them over the years.

She touched so many lives

Some of the other recipients that received significant sums of money included, the Smith Family, an education-oriented charity, The Salvation Army, The Scots Kirk Presbyterian Church Hamilton, The Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Guide Dogs Australia, and Diabetes NSW. But there was a host of many others that received smaller, yet impacting sums.

What makes Sheila’s decision to give her fortune to charitable organizations is that it’ll go to tens of thousands of other people who receive the various services provided. As her cousin Kent stated, “I don’t think anybody (in Newcastle) has ever done something like this and I don’t know if we’ll ever see it again.”